HistoryofTruth.com - Armenian Allegations

An exhibition telling about Armenian communities in Ottoman Turkey through postcards has opened in Yerevan. Its Turkish curator says the postcards, which were also displayed in Turkey and a number of European cities, are a good means to give a perspective on the life of ethnic groups in the Ottoman Empire different from the current official one in Turkey.

Held at Moscow Cinema upon the initiative of the Yerevan-based think tank, Civilitas Foundation, and the Istanbul-based Birzamanlar Yayincilik publishing house (and sponsored by Haypost CJSC) the exhibition entitled “My Dear Brother: Armenians in Turkey 100 Years Ago” features hundreds of postcards reflecting the reality of life for an integrated community in nearly two dozen cities throughout the Ottoman Empire in 1900—1910.

The owner of more than 4,000 postcards is Italian Orlando Calumeno, an Armenian (on his mother's side). Some 500 of these postcards were for the first time exhibited in Istanbul in 2005 through the efforts of Turkish publisher and historian Koker, who is also the curator and editor of the Yerevan exhibition.

Koker's book “Armenians in Turkey 100 Years Ago” featuring Ottoman-era postcards reflecting peaceful and often prosperous life of the Armenian community in the Ottoman Empire was also published that year. The album of 500 postcards presents the places where Armenians lived in the Ottoman Empire, in particular cities and towns and the role of the Armenian communities there. A similar exhibition of postcards entitled “Dear Brother” was held in Istanbul and a number of European cities.

“History in Turkey is presented only from a Turkish perspective. This is particularly remarkable on the example of cities and towns,” said Koker in his remarks during the Tuesday opening of the exhibition, which will run through September 28.

“My goal is to show that Armenians lived in Turkey a century ago and to give true information about them,” said Koker.